Canyon ISD prepares students for life after school with Competitive Edge Week
The Canyon Independent School District has just completed its Competitive Edge Week.
The week focuses on skills to prepare CISD students for success after graduation. The district-wide participation includes daily activities that focus on five criteria that set the students up for the future, including communication, teamwork, adaptability, problem solving and critical thinking, and conflict resolution.
“They are tools for students to become productive citizens,” said Amy Bartlett, kindergarten teacher at Arden Road Elementary.
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Bartlett said that throughout the week, she and her class participated in several activities that focus on developing these five criteria. She held a morning meeting in her class every day that allowed the kindergartners to greet one another and practice their soft skills, such as eye contact, listening, speaking and how to shake hands.
“As teachers, we love it (Competitive Edge Week) because it gives us the opportunity to teach the kids these life skills. ... It’s phenomenal to start at the ground level when they start school and then be able to build on that year after year, teaching these kids the big five to prepare them for their future,” Bartlett said.
Canyon High School Principal Jennifer Boren and Associate Principal Jessica Ray spoke about the skills students have been working on for the past several years that they put into action during Competitive Edge Week at the high school level.
During the week, every senior at Randall and Canyon high schools participated in a mock interview. They were given feedback by volunteers from various industries throughout the area, noting what the students did well on and areas that need improvement.
“This week supports our students to ensure that they experience lifelong success, so whatever our students choose to do, whether it's going to college, going to trade school, entering the workforce, or joining the military, they have the skills to achieve those goals,” Ray said.
Throughout the week, high school students practice interview skills, build a resume, and polish their soft skills, such as properly shaking hands and dressing for an interview.
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According to high school administrators, some of the students participating in these practice interviews have received job offers from company representatives that they spoke with.
“We have actually had, every year, some of the companies that come in and do these interviews hire our students from the interview that they have during Competitive Edge Week, and it allowed some of these students to work as a bank teller while they attend college, or work at one of the feed yards in town. It’s a benefit to our community as much as it is a benefit for our students,” Boren said.
“We try to make sure that each of our students has a goal and then has action plans towards that goal, and that week is just us implementing that,” Ray said.
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Canyon ISD Competitive Edge Week preps students life after school
